It goes without saying that the most important thing when purchasing a garment is that it should “fit properly”. This idea of “fit” is both objective and subjective. The objective aspect relies on the notion of size. The subjective side addresses the image which the person has of themselves when they wear the garment.
The taking of measurements by the tailor in earlier times and sessions of trying on in front of a mirror correspond to these two aspects. They are found in the modern versions of the systems put into place by the clothing industry, the aim of which is to provide the “made to measure” quality to the largest possible number of people with the same ease of access as to ready-to-wear garments.
In fact, one of the major drawbacks which the ready-to-wear market has to confront is the management of alterations or the returning of items sold in shops or stores which do not fit. This phenomenon has certainly grown with the development of mail order sales and more recently with the explosion of online buying through the Internet.
American patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,769 granted on 27 Jul. 1999 in the name of A. Rose perfectly describes the problem outlined above and proposes a solution to remedy it. The process disclosed in this document makes it possible to generate the structure of a mannequin from the measurements taken by the consumers themselves and a photograph of their face. A size is automatically determined as a future reference. The garment is displayed on a real or virtual stylised mannequin, thus enabling the customer to see the final result in advance.
The main drawback of this process seems to be the fact that the person has to take his/her own measurements. Secondly, the sizing system appears to be simplified to the extreme and does not take account of the different ways in which the apparel brands adjust the ranges of sizes to suit their own criteria. Finally, the representation of the person wearing the garments appears to be highly approximate and not at all realistic as it is purely a front view without any opportunity to check the “fit” of the side view and back view.
The method and system described in American patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,268 granted on 7 May 1996 in the name of K. Yoda help to overcome the drawback of the manual inputting of measurements by using optical sensors. The automatic measurements are matched with the morphological data corresponding to sizes in a database. The images of the garments in the size selected are superimposed on those of the person so that he/she can judge the “fit”. A device resembling a belt, the length of which is regulated by the system, enables the customer to check physically that the garment size is appropriate to him/her.
This device seeks to make it possible to choose in objective terms, as well as in subjective terms, thanks to the original device of the automatic belt. However, the only measurements taken into consideration in order to judge the “fit” are peripheral measurements such as the measurements around the waist, hips or bust, and these are not enough.
The process described in International application WO 01/30189 in the name of E. Laue and published on 3 May 2001 uses means to create an animation showing the person moving while wearing the garment of his/her choice. This animation is produced from morphological data obtained by three-dimensional measurements of the customer's body surface, stored on a “credit card” type support with an identification code. The morphological data comprise detailed data as to the face and hairstyle. From the identification code the software is capable of selecting from a catalogue the garment corresponding to the measurements and wishes of the person, and of simulating the wearing of the garment and displaying an image of the customer wearing the garment. When the customer is satisfied with the result he/she is able to initiate the process of manufacturing the garment from these same data.
This method appears attractive as it would make use of simulation programs known in the prior art (Ramsis/Antropos). However, the absence of technical details means that it is impossible to determine whether certain crucial problems such as those linked with the different interpretations of sizes and of the “fit” by the different brands have actually been resolved.
The principle of the methods described above consists in finding, among the various designs produced by the brands, the one which is best suited to the morphology of the future wearer. A judgement of the end result is left to the customer but there is nothing to guarantee that the result will be ideal.
Another approach consists in first of all making models for (live) mannequins representing a target population. As there are perfect models for all the mannequins all that is needed is to determine the standard mannequin which is closest to the body profile of a person, subject to a few corrections, in order to be sure that there are models in the collection which will give the best results.
This approach is the one adopted in particular by the process disclosed in European application EP 0838167 in the name of the company New Lady, published on 29 Apr. 1998. However, as with the other methods already described, the approach remains partly theoretical and idealised. This latter method also does not correctly identify the specific problem posed by the fact that the garments are made by different manufacturers and that these manufacturers have criteria for judging “fit” which vary from one to another, which furthermore constitutes the image pertaining to their brands.
In the prior art a number of other methods and devices using scanning booths are also known.
American patent application US 2001/0030754 in the name of M. Spina et al, published on 18 Oct. 2001, describes a booth for acquiring the morphological data of a person, producing a standard 3D representation for a CAD system (“Computer-Aided Design”). Starting from this representation, standard measurements are generated which are stored in a file for subsequent use.
However, the measurements stored by this system do not take account of the size references actually used by garment manufacturers.
The technical problem of finding, among the standard manufacturers' ranges, the size of a garment which is best suited to the measurements of a particular person thus still remains.
Another booth for acquiring the measurements of a person with a view to synthesising a representation of this person wearing a ready-to-wear design is described in German patent application DE 19620144 filed by the Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, published on 13 Nov. 1997.
The most suitable size is selected from the size references in a database, but again no account is taken of the use of these references among the manufacturers.
In the field of the manufacture of “made to measure” garments a CAD system is known which makes it possible to design a garment for a person by taking account of the measurements of said person and the characteristics of a garment design. This is the system described in American patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,568 published on 27 Feb. 1996 in the name of W. Beavin. In this system a made-to-measure 3D representation is personalised by using digital photographs of the person.
Reference movements, particularly the bending of the elbow, can be simulated while taking account of the physical parameters of the fabric used, thus making it possible to check that the garment fits properly.
However this latter system actually only relates to the manufacture of “made to measure” garments in which the garment is unique and precisely adapted to fit the measurements of the person, and not to the manufacture and/or provision of “individually dimensioned” ready-to-wear garments as envisaged by the present invention.
Thus, up till now, there has been no solution to the problem of the technical management of a limited number of standard sizes which are, moreover, different for each manufacturer.